Pubdate: Mon, 21 Mar 2005
Source: Argus Leader (SD)
Copyright: 2005 Argus Leader
Contact:  http://www.argusleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/842
Author: Terry Woster
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

S.D. MEDICAL MARIJUANA PROPOSAL FORMING

Marijuana: Signatures Needed To Reach Ballot

PIERRE - A Hermosa man who supported an unsuccessful attempt to legalize 
industrial hemp in 2002 said last week he is preparing a ballot initiative 
to allow medical marijuana in South Dakota.

Robert Newland, who also ran for attorney general as a Libertarian 
candidate in 2002, said Montana voters in November legalized marijuana for 
medical uses.

"When I saw that Montana did it, I decided to start a campaign in South 
Dakota," Newland said. "There is no question we can get the signatures in 
fairly short order. The fact is, medical use has never failed on an 
initiative."

A bill to legalize medical marijuana died 11-1 in a House committee during 
the 2005 Legislature.

Newland can expect strong opposition from Attorney General Larry Long's 
office if his proposal reaches the ballot. A spokesman for Long said the 
office's position is contained in statements made at the House hearing by 
Charles McGuigan, an assistant attorney general.

"We are in opposition to any plan to legalize marijuana in any form, 
whether it is medical marijuana or industrial hemp or any other concoction 
that would give credence to this substance," McGuigan said then. "Marijuana 
is not scheduled as a controlled substance, but marijuana use and 
possession is illegal and is a crime."

Newland has until May 2006 to file petitions. He'll need 16,728 valid 
signatures. He said he'd like to get started this spring by filing the 
formal language of the proposed law, a first step in the process. That 
would give petition carriers the opportunity to work fairs and other summer 
events where large numbers of potential signers are concentrated in small 
areas.

Ten states have some form of medical marijuana laws now. California's law 
is being challenged in a U.S. Supreme Court case. Other states with such 
laws are Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont 
and Washington. Arizona also has a law permitting marijuana prescriptions 
but no active program.

South Dakota's Criminal Code Revision Commission considered, but rejected, 
a medical marijuana proposal last summer.

In November 2003, the state Supreme Court upheld the marijuana conviction 
of an Eagle Butte man who said he needed the drug to ease chronic muscle 
spasms he had suffered since needing to use a wheelchair after a car wreck.

Rep. Gerald Lange, D-Madison, sponsored the failed medical marijuana bill 
last session. The patient's physician would have been required to say that 
the beneficial impact of marijuana use for a patient would outweigh risks.

"There's a nausea effect in a lot of medicine, where marijuana doesn't 
cause this kind of side effect," Lange said.

McGuigan said the attorney general's office thought that passing such a law 
"would reduce the perception of the risk for drug use."

He also said the active ingredient in marijuana is available in pill form, 
with a prescription.

Newland said that pill works for some people. But in cases of severe nausea 
that sometimes accompany chemotherapy and other treatments, "the patient 
just can't keep it down."

So far, the only ballot issue qualified for the November 2006 general 
election is a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a legal union 
between a man and a woman. That proposal passed the 2005 Legislature.
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MAP posted-by: Beth